Dimensions: support: 910 x 710 mm
Copyright: © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Damien Hirst's "Orbital", held in the Tate Collections, presents a compelling image. There's something almost meditative about it. Editor: Yes, immediately the process grabs me. Look at the layering, the sheer repetition of marks creating these concentric circles. What materials were used? Curator: It really speaks to Hirst's exploration of life, death, and everything in between. These orbital patterns, they feel like cycles, like the inevitable spinning of the universe. It feels very gender neutral, almost sterile. Editor: Sterile, perhaps, but not without the hand of the artist evident. There's an undeniable labor and control visible in the final composition. I wonder how much of this was done by him versus his assistants? Curator: True, this question of labor and production with Hirst is always relevant. I find the piece also reveals a tension between order and chaos. Editor: An insightful comment. It makes me consider Hirst's role in the commodification of art and the role of the 'artist' as brand. Curator: It’s a poignant point to end on, considering the narrative and layers within Hirst's practice. Editor: Absolutely. A work that certainly allows us to continue to question the making of meaning and labor within it.
Comments
Join the conversation
Join millions of artists and users on Artera today and experience the ultimate creative platform.
This is one of the twenty-three etchings that comprise the first volume of two portfolios, In a Spin, the Action of the World on Things I and II. Each etching was made by the artist in London 2002, printed on 350gsm Hahnmuhle paper, proofed and editioned at Hope (Sufferance) Press, London and published by Charles Booth-Clibborn under his imprint, The Paragon Press. There are sixty-eight sets of prints, numbered 1–68 on the colophon page, and six proof copies. Tate’s copy is the second in the edition. Each set is accompanied by a colophon page and presented in a box with an original spin painting in household paint on the cover and the title and artist’s name printed on top. In addition to etchings similar to those in the first volume, the second volume of In a Spin... includes a photograph of the night sky that Hirst took using a long exposure, recording the movement of the stars in the sky caused by the earth’s rotation, and contributing to the notion expressed in the words: the Action of the World on Things. The artist first coined this phrase in 1999, when he was explaining the origin of his spot paintings (see AR00498), differentiating two strands of his work: ‘an involvement with death and decay, and ideas and life: the action of the world on things exists somewhere, and the colour exists somewhere else. And it’s fantastic.’ (Quoted in Damien Hirst and Gordon Burn, On the Way to Work, London 2001, p.119.) In the event, the imagery of In a Spin, the Action of the World on Things I and II unites these two strands.
CollectMore like this
